"The question we wanted to ask was whether the Caribbean is the right model for what's going to happen in the Indian and Pacific oceans over the next twenty years, and the answer is no," says Roff.

Evidence that has been building since the mid-1970s shows that the two ocean environments differ in many ways, he says. The stand-out difference was the growth rates of seaweed on the reefs.

"The seaweed grows three to four times faster in the Caribbean than in the Indo-Pacific," he says.

The growth-rate of seaweed can have a major impact on the health of reefs. When corals are damaged, seaweed species can invade the spaces they leave behind, making it harder for the coral to grow back.

The faster seaweed growth in the Caribbean could be a result of several factors, the researchers say. They might include a shortage of plant-eating fish in the region and the fact that dust from the Sahara is sometimes carried over the reefs where it acts as a fertiliser.

"It is intriguing to see such variability in seaweed behaviour around the world," Roff says. "We raise a number of possible explanations that scientists will test over the next few years."

While the study might be good news for the coral reefs of the Indian and Pacific oceans, we cannot afford to be complacent, the researchers warn.

"It doesn't mean that the Indo-Pacific is fine," says Roff. "The response of the reefs to climate change and human activities are still a cause for concern."